


Year of the Mythosaur

by Aaskada



Series: a string of barely coherent vignettes [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: BUT STILL HAPPY ENDING FOR REAL, Canderous Ordo/Revan is implied in the background, Canon character deaths, Happy Ending tho, I honestly have no idea how to explain this to anyone who wasn't part of the conversation, In theory this is also leading up to Jango/Obi-Wan but no guarantees for this installment, MandoMart!, because Obi-Wan is Like That, honestly that's probably enough to guess where this is going, with some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaskada/pseuds/Aaskada
Summary: MandoMart: A collection of occasions on which Obi-Wan reads his Mandalorian horoscope
Series: a string of barely coherent vignettes [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987279
Comments: 66
Kudos: 333
Collections: JangObi Shenanigans Secret Santa 2020, Suggested Good Reads





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ehcanuck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehcanuck/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is supposed to be a secret santa present that has gotten wildly out of hand. It will be done by New Years (hopefully)! No hovertext right now, but I may go back and add it depending on how I feel once the whole story is up.

Shortly after arriving in Sundari Obi-Wan takes a chance to wander around the city and gather information while Master Qui-Gon guards the new duchess. The sign for a shop called MandoMart is well-hidden, but he recognizes it from trips to the Senate Dome when Master Qui-Gon visits Chancellor Valorum. He's always been curious about it. Despite that he wouldn't have thought there would be one in the capital of Mandalore, let alone with a sign written in Basic and aurebesh. Inside it's a whole market. He's never been in a store before that specialized in everything, wouldn't have thought there'd be a store like this on Mandalore itself. There's fresh produce to one side and further back he can see a butcher's counter. Then there are aisles and aisles of other goods—quite a bit of it is food, but there are also rows of kitchenware, books, and what looks like a rack of stun batons.

Obi-Wan grabs a bag of what he's pretty sure is candy despite the flame decals on the black plastic and a magazine with a red cover and a shiny silver, stylized mythosaur backed by the same geometric designs he sees painted and carved around the city. The writing on both is completely in Mando'a, but he might as well start learning. Some sort of commotion is happening by the bakery counter so he takes his choices and heads for the registers. Back in the rooms they've been assigned in the palace he pulls up the Mando'a module on his datapad and starts painstakingly translating. The candy is sweet, once he can taste it past the burning.

By the time he's on the run and Duchess Kryze has become Satine he can read the alphabet without it slowing him down too much and there's a handful of other words he knows from the horoscopes he keeps picking up. His collection of magazines have scribbled translations in every open space. Learning to speak Mando'a is harder—there isn't a spoken portion of the language module and the longer they hide the less willing Satine is to speak it. He picks up the accent of the native Mando'ade instead of the officially used Kalevalan dialect from Sundari even if the two blur together around the edges.

By the time they make it to Keldabe after two months on the run he can read enough to catch the headlines on the magazines the MandoMart there offers. Apparently there are twelve potential sightings of Jango Fett each accompanied by a blurry picture, Satine is actually a droid sent by the Republic to destroy Mandalore from within—the real Satine Kryze having been assassinated during her schooling on Coruscant—and the year of the mythosaur is expected to end with a great battle outside Enceri at which Mandalore the First will rise from the grave. Obi-Wan soundly doubts the veracity of all of these things, but he picks a couple anyway along with a more serious looking magazine with a headline about Death Watch recruitment and another shiny-covered magazine—blue with a orange strill, this time—advertising predictions for the next year.

"Mar'eyi?"

Obi-Wan looks up and sees a tall humanoid in beskar'gam looming over him. Fully sealed beskar'gam by the air filters attached to the helmet, which he hasn't seen before. He's changed into casual clothes with a kar'ta beskar motif around the collar and hidden his braid, but it feels like the Mandalorian knows he's a Jedi anyway. He is wearing a nametag like the rest of the employees, stuck to his chest with a magnet. It says Canderous.

"...vaii kar'tayl haranov?"

"Shekemi."

The Mandalorian drifts away and Obi-Wan trails after. Getting a better look, he's pretty sure the man is actually floating just slightly off the ground, but that would probably be rude to mention. In a tiny room he missed earlier there are neatly labeled boxes of datachits. The Mandalorian gestures very emphatically at one box in particular labeled 'Mand'alor te Kotirii.' Next to it is a box that says Mand'alor te Vencuyanirii and on its other side is a much fuller one that says Mand'alor te Ramikadyc'shya bal Evaa'ramikade. As he pokes through the box he realizes they're all about the Prodigal Knight. He's pulling out a couple that look interesting when an employee comes over and says something too fast for him to follow. The pair of Mandalorians bicker back and forth for a minute before the employee turns to look at him—clutching the chits—and sighs.

"There's a box about Tarre Vizsla, too, if you're interested in Jetiise." She must see he is interested because she waves him toward a box further down. "There's a sale right now—buy three and get the forth free."

That's good to know. It took some doing, but the council managed to give them their mission funds mostly in Mandalorian credits of which they've used very little; so while he isn't running low on funds he doesn't want to risk spending too much now when the mission is promising to drag on for longer than its already unplanned-for three months. Satine has not handled well the lack of comforts allowed by their modest means and need to keep a low profile. She already complains when he buys magazines—though she couches it as a waste of resources to spend credits on superstitious rags and rumormongers—he doesn't really want a round about barbarism because he bought some datachits about well known Jedi who also happened to be warriors.

He finds some instant noodles with freeze-dried vegetables listed as an ingredient, little mesh bags of behot for making shig, and an electric kettle with a powercell that is probably unwisely powerful for its size. He takes the lot up to the register with him, tucking the datachits into a pouch on his belt and the rest in his sling bag.

Satine is ill-pleased with the noodles and the cheap behot when he returns. She knows better than to turn her nose up at it, but it's easy to tell she wants to.

By the end of the mission he's collected several more datachits, including a copy of Jaster Mereel's Supercommando Codex—Mand'alor te Tatu'paru according to the MandoMart labels, which don't acknowledge any of the Vizsla's to attempt to claim the position in the last two centuries—and a few supposedly about Tarre Vizsla's force teachings of which he's managed to obtain extra copies for the archives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'ade = n., lit. Children of Mandalore, Mandalorians  
> Mar'eyi = v. find, discover; Obi-Wan is being asked if he's finding what he needs  
> Beskar'gam = n., traditional Mandalorian armor  
> Kar'ta beskar = n., the diamond-shaped piece in the middle of the chestplate on a set of beskar'gam  
> Vaii kar'tayl haranov = Obi-Wan is trying to ask where the books/book equivalents are and has made a translation error. He is thinking kar'taylir (to know) + haranov (cache) = book, but has accidentally asked where Canderous' favorite thing is kept instead  
> Shekemi = v., follow  
> Mand'alor te Kotirii = Mandalore the Defeater, a name attributed to Revan in some Mandalorian histories  
> Mand'alor te Vencuyanirii = Mandalore the Preserver, whose name is Canderous Ordo  
> Mand'alor te Ramikadyc'shya bal Evaa'ramikade = Mandalore the Ultimate and the Neo-Crusaders  
> Jetiise = n., Jedi, plural  
> Mand'alor te Tatu'paru = Mandalore the Reformer, whose name is Jaster Mereel


	2. Chapter 2

The next time he has an opportunity to go into a MandoMart is while wandering the lower levels with Quinlan. They've got some credits to burn after winning some rounds of sabbac and they happen to wander by Little Keldabe, where the MandoMart sign catches Obi-Wan's eye. He isn't even sure if Quinlan's realized where they are until he's been dragged into a candy aisle with nothing labeled in Basic.

"Obes, this is Little Keldabe."

"I know."

"We're gonna get shanked."

"Don't be so dramatic."

"I'm too pretty to die."

He rolls his eyes and starts looking for the distinctive packaging of the candy he grew a fondness for on Mandalore. Finally finding them on a shelf near the floor he sits down and pulls out a couple bags while considering the price. They're five credits each and he won about a thousand playing sabbac that night. He probably won't have anything else to spend it on before they have another expedition to the lower levels, but he also doesn't have much space to keep it. Eventually he decides five bags is sufficient and drags Quinlan over to the shig section instead. There are varieties of behot on sale ranging from the cheap ones he bought on the run to expensive loose leaf tins. He picks up a box of bagged leaves in a box that advertises enough cinnamon to make your mouth burn and a tin with an Alderaanian lemon tree painted on the side.

"Did you really have to come to Little Keldabe for tea?"

"We were already in Little Keldabe, you just didn't notice." Obi-Wan does some translation in his head as he looks at the signs and follows them to the datachits and magazines. "There's also one near the senate dome."

Quinlan makes a face at him, then at the datachits. After grabbing a couple at random out of the boxes assigned to several Mand'alor'e he's never heard of, Obi-Wan also picks up a particularly slanderous tabloid.

"Are you telling me you don't want to read about how the true Mand'alor is working as a cantina singer on Takodana?" Obi-Wan waves the magazine in Quinlan's face, knowing he won't be able to resist.

"That— kriff—" Quinlan's expression is hilariously torn between curious and offended. "I can't read Mandalorian!"

"It's called Mando'a," Obi-Wan corrects him reproachfully, just for the look on his face.

"Finding everything alright?" asks a voice that very clearly communicates the speaker does not care.

Obi-Wan turns and sees a beskar'gam clad figure like the ones in Keldabe and Enceri, magnetic nametag identifying them as Tarre.

"Yes, thank you." Quinlan groans dramatically behind him. "Will you stop complaining if I buy you tihaar?"

"What's tihaar?"

"Nothing for jet'ike," Tarre interrupts, looming nearby. "Adults only."

Quinlan's squawk of outrage has Obi-Wan snickering into a shiny green magazine declaring it the year of the shriekhawk. While mildly alarmed that he knows they're Jedi, there's no hostility in the force so he lets it go. Despite saying they're too young, the employee doesn't stop Obi-Wan from picking up a couple bottles of spiced tihaar anymore than the cashier stops him from buying them at the register. On the way out of the store he pushes one of the bottles into Quinlan's hands while the rest of his purchases go in his bag. The bottle might not get past Master Tholme—who watches Quinlan's purchases much closer than Master Qui-Gon watches Obi-Wan's—but at least it makes Quinlan shut up about being in Little Keldabe long enough for them to get out of Little Keldabe.

They backtrack through Coruscant's lower levels to Quinlan's favored entrance for sneaking in and out of the temple. It's used by the lower level MediCorps clinics and senior padawans, with a maintained lift to reach the inhabited parts of the temple. It's watched by the shadows as much as the temple guard and they're in the habit of letting senior padawans get into trouble so long as its trouble they don't have to be extracted from. Obi-Wan, fortunately, has never been in trouble he needed help with while on Coruscant, although Quinlan can't honestly say the same. They split up once they reach the residential quarter.

Master Qui-Gon is either already asleep or out when Obi-Wan gets back. He doesn't check the other room to be sure, just tucks his tiny haul into the back of his closet with the durasteel armor he used to disguise himself on Mandalore and Satine didn't take back even when he tried to ask. After some consideration he keeps a bag of candy for his nightstand drawer. It's an early night, for one spent in the lower levels, but the detour into Little Keldabe is enough excitement to get Quinlan his thrills. Obi-Wan isn't tired yet. He does still have his remaining coursework and some research for the next mission. Instead he picks up the trashy tabloid with a name he can't quite translate and reads about Jango Fett's thrilling career as a singer at the infamous pirate's den on Takodana.

There are a few blurry pictures just clear enough to be clearly Mandalorians in beskar'gam, matched up against older pictures from Galidraan and earlier. There's some speculation about whether the man retrieved his old armor or got new armor that makes Obi-Wan wrinkle his nose at the implications—so far as he even understands them—but so far as he can tell none of the Mandalorians in the pictures can be Fett because they have a completely different build. One of them is eyelevel with a Wookie, far taller than Obi-Wan can imagine the man in the young pictures growing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shig = n., a drink usually served hot that is an herbal infusion of whatever happens to be available i.e. the Mandalorian name for tea  
> Behot = n., a citrusy tasting herb that is also a mild stimulant, a common ingredient in shig  
> Mand'alor'e = n., Mandalores, referring to the leaders  
> Mando'a = n., the Mandalorian language  
> Tihaar = n., Mandalorian distilled alcohol  
> Jet'ike = n., little Jedi, plural


	3. Chapter 3

Obi-Wan has a box of Mandalorian horoscopes and trashy tabloids in his closet with the armor and various bits of paraphernalia picked up in Little Keldabe or other MandoMarts he's found across the galaxy. It's a bit surprising at first that the Mandalorian diaspora could support the stores in such a wide spread even in Republic space, but when he reads the more serious news publications they make no secret of the fact that Satine exiles everyone who won't give up their beskar'gam. She's becoming known as troan chakurii. Beyond that, the stores are popular with bounty hunters in general and occasionally other locals who have gotten used to their presence. Their holonet site gives a thorough list of store locations with more on core worlds than he expected. It's how he knows there is one on Tattooine when he sees the planet within range of their one hyperjump away from Naboo.

The royal yacht doesn't have the tools needed to replace a hyperdrive. It takes a bit of convincing to let him go into Mos Espa to buy what they'll need at the MandoMart, but he points out that while they won't be stocking hyperdrives the tools needed to repair one will be on sale. And—as the store chain takes nearly every form of legal currency—the allowance of credits from the Order will more than cover what they need. One of the royal handmaidens—Dormé, he thinks her name is—volunteers to accompany him. Obi-Wan gets the impression they think he might need backup in a fight.

The MandoMart has a sign made of hammered durasteel rather than the neon of the one in Little Keldabe. Otherwise the only thing making it stand out is its unusual size—most of the buildings are the size of a small home with the exception of the arena and Hutt palace in the distance—the MandoMart is four times the size of the surrounding buildings on the surface and once they're inside Obi-Wan can see stairs leading further down at the back of the store. Ordinarily he might wonder how it didn't get ransacked by the local Hutt's mercenaries, but not a lot of people were willing to get on the bad side of a Mandalorian let alone however many were on Tattooine at any time. Attacking a Mandalorian-owned store is the opposite of a good idea.

He slots their Order issued credit chit into his data pad to check the account balance before picking up one of the more complete tool sets. It will cost them two hundred of their five thousand allotted credits, but a T-14 hyperdrive is only worth four thousand brand new. If they can find one on Tattooine at all it certainly won't be new. They might simply have to buy a passably compatible hyperdrive that will last them to Coruscant instead. He tells Dormé this while poking through the magazines.

Current news says Mand'alor Jango Fett has been sighted on Corellia in a tense stand-off with CorSec, or possibly in Little Keldabe on Coruscant. There's a shiny purple one with a pale blue vhe'viin stylized on the cover. He picks it up—the ten credits it costs him won't set them back irreparably. He also grabs a couple bags of jan'alayi to share.

They pass an armored figure on the way to the registers that makes Obi-Wan double take. Years of learning about the Mand'alor'e and visiting various MandoMarts has made him somewhat aware of the store chains... oddities, but he knows that person. Even the Jedi archives have pictures of the Prodigal Knight. Revan's head cocks in his direction and Obi-Wan waves awkwardly before continuing on.

On the way back to the ship he offers a candy to Dormé and laughs lightly when she bites down and gets the full force of the burn.

"What is that?" she says after choking it down.

"Mandalorian spicy candy," he answers. "I grew a fondness for this particular type on a mission several years ago."

"And the magazine?"

"Horoscopes. It's a bit silly, but they're good practice for the language."

"Why not the news magazines?"

"They're tabloids actually." Obi-Wan laughs. "There's always a lot of speculation about where Jango Fett might be and what he's doing. Completely non-credible, of course."

"Oh? Like what?"

"A few years ago it was reported that he was working as a cantina singer in a pirate's den on Takodana due to a few Mandalorians who went through with similar paint on their armor to the patterns he wore as Mand'alor. There's ongoing reporting about supposed sightings across the galaxy."

She hums. "Why him?"

"I suppose you wouldn't know much about Mandalorian politics twelve years ago." He considers how much to tell her—it's more than a decade past, after all, and Naboo had no involvement. "About twenty years ago the Mand'alor was Jaster Mereel, who was the leader of a group known as the True Mandalorians. He was... ambushed and killed by the Korda 6 planetary defense force who allied themselves with a terrorist group known as Death Watch. Jango Fett was his heir and adopted son and the one who became Mand'alor after him. Despite being young at the time he must have been a competent and compelling leader because Death Watch targeted him again. They allied themselves with the governor of Galidraan who hired them to assist with capturing insurgents and when the True Mandalorians arrived sent a false report to the Senate claiming they were Mandalorian terrorists killing Republic citizens."

"The Senate attacked them."

"The Senate sent the Jedi to do it." Obi-Wan tilted his head back and squinted at the cloudless sky. "A strike team lead by Master Dooku attacked and killed most of the True Mandalorians, having trusted the veracity of the Senate's information rather than investigating further. Not that the Jedi came out unscathed—Mand'alor Fett killed six Jedi bare-handed in defense of his people. He was reported dead at some point in the aftermath, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that isn't true. It is very convenient for many people if Jango Fett stays legally dead, the Senate-supported New Mandalorian government among them."

Dormé doesn't say anything. He wonders if he's broken her faith in the Jedi by revealing that they are only people, capable of the same horrible mistakes as anyone else. More even, with their responsibilities. He flips through a few pages of the horoscope.

"On a lighter note, there are celebrations in our future. And the return of a great enemy, but I suppose we can overlook that part."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Troan chakurii = Face stealer  
> Vhe'viin = n., a small mouse-like animal native to Mandalore  
> Jan'alayi = n., Mandalorian spicy candy; from janad (spicy) + alayi (stolen from uj'alayi to mean sweets/desserts in general)


	4. Chapter 4

The celebrations, when they come, are shrouded in grief. Although the treaty between the human and Gungan inhabitants of Naboo is reason to celebrate, the clawing emptiness where Master Qui-Gon used to be is painful and distracting. They weren't tightly bonded—frequent difficulty and disagreements prevented that—but it was still a bond ripped apart by death. Horoscopes are intentionally vague enough to read any meaning into. At the same time it feels like they were warned of the Sith and ignored it. The quartermasters' droids sweep through their quarters before Obi-Wan makes it back to the temple with Anakin and clear out Qui-Gon's possessions. Both bedrooms are the same size—such suites are also used for paired knights and masters—so Obi-Wan won't be expected to move into the room that was once Qui-Gon's, but he doesn't much care for the thought of going back to those rooms at all.

Anakin tugs on his sleeve.

"Yes, Anakin?"

"You don't want to go back."

"I have never lived alone before," he says. "I won't be now either, because you'll be there, but it isn't quite the same."

Anakin twists Obi-Wan's tied off padawan's braid in his fingers, the small beads catching on calluses he's too young to have. If he followed tradition strictly Obi-Wan would have put it on Master Qui-Gon's pyre, but the physical reminder of his place in the order seems to help Anakin settle.

The new chancellor Palpatine saw them off from Naboo, paying personal attention to Anakin and Obi-Wan both that made Obi-Wan itch for his saber even if he couldn't say exactly why. Once they were away he put the slimy feeling of being in the man's sights down to his usual feelings about politicians. They spent the trip back with Anakin tucked against his side learning to read—in Mando'a rather than basic, but Obi-Wan resolved to work on aurebesh once they were back on Coruscant. Mando'a isn't a language much in demand among Jedi.

When Master Windu raises a brow at him he averts his eyes. Obi-Wan knows there are more useful things he could be teaching Anakin, but it still hasn't sunk in that he's a knight with a padawan yet. A tenday ago he stood before the high council while Master Qui-Gon all but repudiated him for a chance to teach Anakin, a tenday ago he didn't know if he would be once more sentenced to the Corps suited or not. Now he has a padawan with no foundation of Jedi teaching who he learned Master Qui-Gon freed from slavery only after asking Queen Amidala about his suspicions. Before he can let it slip from the front of his mind he reaches over to Master Windu's shields and taps for attention. Once he receives acknowledgement he presents the memory, getting a faint hint of startled irritation back. When he flinches back from the mental contact Master Windu sends a wave of reassurance toward him. Once Anakin falls asleep tucked against his side Master Windu swears lowly.

"Damn it, Jinn, you didn't think that was important information."

"Something to share, have you?" Master Yoda asks.

"Skywalker was a slave. In all likelihood he hasn't even been scanned for a subdermal detonator let alone gotten a proper medical check."

"Queen Amidala is aware," Obi-Wan offers. "The medics at the palace might have given him some vaccines."

"We'll send a request for any medical records they've created."

Obi-Wan nods. It makes him uncomfortable to leave the conversation hanging like that, but he has no idea what to say. If he apologizes he'll just be told he did nothing wrong despite knowing they would need any medical records the Naboo royal medics created and not asking for them. He tries to distract himself by thumbing through the year's predictions again. Celebrations and an old enemy. A rough beginning, be wary of false friends, a bright future if he works for it. Vague enough to apply to anyone and any circumstance, but obviously he needs the reminders.

Anakin's records come from Naboo immediately and it turns out he did receive a large number of vaccines, explaining why he's been so sluggish. There are a few more he'll need, but he stops making faces and lights up when discussion turns to the surgery needed to remove his slave chip. It will be complicated due to him receiving it so young, but the healers are sure they can manage without complications. Quinlan—who has only just taken on Aayla himself—agrees to pick up a couple small model ships Anakin can build as a celebratory present. It's a good thing they caught it when they did, Master Palho tells him, with Anakin growing so much there is a good chance waiting even a year would have resulted in the surgery being too high risk to attempt as muscle and nerves twined around it. Obi-Wan is glad he got something right, even if it took him awhile.

There are still classes to sign Anakin up for—which will require placement tests that themselves will require special dispensation from the instructors with Anakin not knowing aurebesh yet—and a trip to Ilum for a saber crystal and— and—

Obi-Wan took a breath and held it. When he could feel the strain and his spiraling thoughts slowed down he let it out and started breathing normally again. One thing at a time and it all gets done. He sends a message to Master Drallig about setting up private tutoring to catch Anakin up to his agemates.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

The first time Obi-Wan steps foot in the MandoMart across from the senate dome is while Anakin is in class. Theoretically it's more convenient than the one in Little Keldabe, but he's only been in the area while on duty.

Like the one in Mos Espa it's got a sign of hammered metal, although this one has been polished to a high shine. Inside the store there is a much larger selection of non-Mandalorian goods. Not a surprise given its location—the signs are even in Basic instead of Mando'a. He already has business at the rotunda or he'd just go to Little Keldabe, but while he's there he may as well stop by to replenish his supply of jan'alayi. Anakin can't stand it, but Quinlan took the spiciness as a personal challenge after the first time he choked on one. Obi-Wan isn't sure if he's acquired a taste for them or if he eats them out of stubbornness. Either way keeping his stash stocked means taking opportunities when he has them.

The bag he brought along with this trip in mind is full with half the stores stock of his favored candy brand and a shiny grey magazine with a yellow spiral he is fairly certain is an abstract representation of a fanned rawl when two figures in full beskar'gam go tumbling past locked in a grapple. It's a bit of a surprise partially because he would expect this particular MandoMart not to see such things, but mostly because they tumbled straight through the shelves without displacing anything. He had suspicions that were all but confirmed on seeing the Revanchist on Tattooine—he's fairly sure 'Canderous' who he met in Keldabe is actually Canderous Ordo, Mandalore the Preserver—but that's a bit different from seeing a pair of ghosts toss each other around the store with seemingly arbitrary rules on when they could—or had to—touch things.

Various flashes of the combatants he caught between the aisles have him mentally scrolling through the list of Mand'alor'e he knows of. The Neo-Crusader armor of Mandalore the Ultimate is distinctive, but there are a few options for the unnecessarily spiky set of beskar'gam. Mandalore the Jagged and Mandalore the Furious both were known specifically for unnecessarily spiky armor. Eventually Mandalore the Ultimate defeats his opponent, who vanishes so abruptly Obi-Wan can't rightly say what actually happened. Mandalore the Ultimate whips around to look directly at him, radiating hostility. The magnetic nametag stuck to his chest says Katan.

Obi-Wan makes a mental note that he is probably best off avoiding this particular MandoMart. He leaves without picking up any more magazines or data chits.

At the rotunda, Bail takes a few bags of the candy to share with Breha as they've both come to like it, but Alderaan doesn't have a MandoMart. Perhaps it's too peaceful to attract the exiled Mandalorians. They flip through the coming year's predictions together, Obi-Wan translating. It will be a good year for courting a lifemate, apparently, so Bail makes plans for a holo-date with Breha. After a few hours of half gossip, half discussing various anti-slavery efforts Obi-Wan sees himself back to the temple. Anakin will be well done with classes already and has probably turned to taking apart the temple mouse droids instead of doing his homework.

Unsurprisingly he's right. Anakin turns his nose up at the candy when he sees it, but the horoscope gets more interest. Although learning Mando'a had to be set aside for aurebesh Anakin is always interested in the idea of a future so Obi-Wan usually translates for him.

"Have you finished all your work for tomorrow?" he asks before he'll read them.

Anakin whines but drags himself over to the table to work while Obi-Wan prepares latemeal. By the time they've eaten and cleaned up again Anakin has struggled his way through his report for the Republic cultures class and they settle together on the couch with the magazine. Anakin leans into his side to see the illustrations. Anakin was born the year of the shriekhawk so Obi-Wan focuses on those predictions.

It will be a year of unexpected change and great things can be accomplished—so long as Anakin controls his temper. He is advised to make compromises and not give in to jealousy. Obi-Wan's predictions remind him that open communication is necessary to healthy relationships.

They watch a holo-drama with the subtitles on for the rest of the evening, laughing at the absurd plot twists and over-acting. Along the way they make jokes about how events would go much smoother for the characters if only they would pay attention to their horoscopes. Two hours in Obi-Wan checked the time and realized it was already getting late.

"One more?" Anakin pouts.

"Not tonight. You have class tomorrow morning whether you've slept or not." Obi-Wan shoos him toward the fresher. "It will be much easier if you're well-rested."

"Please?"

"Tomorrow. I don't have any meetings, we can watch them then."

Eventually Anakin gives in and washes up for the night while Obi-Wan drifts around their rooms tidying up before taking his own turn. He checks on Anakin before heading to his own bed for the night. The refill for his candy stash is put away and the horoscope magazine put away in the box with the others. Then he turns off the light and goes to sleep, leaving his door cracked open in case Anakin sneaks into his room in the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Solo missions for a knight with a padawan are rare, especially when that padawan is on the cusp of being recognized as a senior padawan—under ordinary circumstances any offworld mission a padawan can't be taken on is to be assigned to a knight or master without a padawan to worry about—but in this case Obi-Wan has been specifically requested. Mostly it's down to the fact that he is one of the few Jedi who can claim fluency in Mando'a. He isn't a gangly teenager anymore and neither the durasteel beskar'gam nor the non-armored casualwear he still owns from Mandalore fit him, but neither can be replaced given he would have a very difficult time convincing an Armorer he was Mando'ad and the clothing style is hard to find outside the Mandalorian sector. Just as well probably, that he didn't go in the few pieces of armor that did still fit him. He is likely to be outed as a Jedi at some point and it's better no one thinks him pretending to be one of the exiles when that happens.

They start out in Little Keldabe dressed as spacers, if more blatantly armed than usual. Knight Ma'ree is officially in charge of their mission, but her Mando'a is heavily accented and archaic—learned from the temple records older than the Ruusan Reformations—so she follows him into the MandoMart where half the employees know his face and that he's a Jedi no matter what he wears. Tarre drifts over from the frozen goods aisle, passing through several shelves without even pretending to be an actual, living person. He shoves the years horoscope into Obi-Wan's hands.

"Su cuy'gar, Jetii."

"Su haalu."

"Nuhaalu."

Obi-Wan laughs. "Nujorhaa'i gar."

With pleasantries out of the way Tarre tilts his helmeted head toward Ma'ree and switches to Basic. She takes that as her cue to do the talking and after half an hour of discussion Obi-Wan has bought the horoscope, a tabloid advertising a tell-all interview by sources close to the former True Mandalorian leadership, and another bag of jan'alayi and Ma'ree has parsed enough out of rumor and small talk to decide on their next destination. Ma'ree holds her silence until they're on the tiny freighter toward Bespin to ask her questions.

"Why was a Mando so willing to help us? He obviously knew I'm not one."

"Oh, he knows me, has for about a decade now."

"He called you Jetii—that's Mando'a for Jedi, isn't it?"

He hums affirmatively, politely ignoring her break down next to him. It's a bit more dramatic than the situation warrants, but he understands the impulse. While Ma'ree works through her feelings about the fact that they walked into Little Keldabe and talked to a Mando'ad in full beskar'gam who knows they are Jedi, Obi-Wan puts away the tabloid in favor of his new horoscope. It will be a year of conflicts, apparently, both internal and external. He's skimming the weekly predictions when Ma'ree calms down.

"Can we be sure he was telling the truth?"

"Yes."

"Kenobi—"

"He wasn't lying." Obi-Wan looks up from the magazine briefly. "I don't claim perfect insight into his motivations, but I've never known him to be dishonest. Merely misleading, on occasion."

Ma'ree doesn't look reassured, but she doesn't push the issue any more either. He goes back to his reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Su cuy'gar, Jetii = you [are] still alive, Jedi  
> Su haalu = still breathing  
> Nuhaalu = [I'm] not breathing  
> Nujorhaa'i gar = [I'm] not talking [about] you


	7. Chapter 7

Tarre has long been a source of willing information and—Obi-Wan likes to think—a friend, so it makes sense to go to him to find out if the bounty hunter who shot Wesell is known. He can't see the frown through Tarre's helmet, but he can feel it very strongly. There are rumors about a beroya with paint like this, but whoever it is hasn't entered a MandoMart so Tarre can't speak to their identity. Nor can he identify the dart.

"Vor'e," Obi-Wan offers anyway for the attempt. "I have a couple contacts with more recent expertise on weaponry. Someone will know something."

He leaves the store with his usual haul and heads toward the upper levels, to CoCo Town and Dex's Diner. Dex does have information, on the planet and its location though he doesn't know anything about the bounty hunter he's willing to share. It's enough to tell him where to go, so Obi-Wan just pays for his meal and says his goodbyes. Back at the temple archives he finds himself nearly on Master Nu's bad side for suggesting there is information missing from the archives even with the notable blank spot in the star maps right in the quadrant where Kamino should be. He escapes her wrath only to find Master Yoda is in the middle of teaching an initiate class—on astronavigation of all things. At least it means the younglings are in the right frame of mind to remind him of the obvious. A few calculations tells him exactly where the missing planet should be.

Before leaving Obi-Wan sends a message to Anakin—who should be arriving on Naboo with Senator Amidala as he leaves Coruscant—and braves Master Nu again to pass on what information he has on Kamino. Once done he leaves the temple, plotting out the quickest route down to Mon Gazza before jumping over to Manda and following the trade route out to the border between the mid rim and the outer rim and through the Rishi Maze. In hyperspace he has nothing to do but read his newest acquisitions.

_The Secret to a Perfect Tingiilar! 12 Clans Who Are Swearing to New Houses! Clan Skirata on the Rise: Beroya Adopts 10 Children_

Obi-Wan flips through stories, reading the incredibly inadvisable tingiilar recipe then the interview from a records clerk who apparently filed adoption papers from Kal Skirata who was one of several exiled Mando'ade who disappeared years ago and been presumed dead. The second story he reads more thoroughly and, while all the cited evidence is circumstantial, the implication is that Satine's New Mandalorian government is increasingly unpopular outside its own members. Although he appreciates her ideals he can understand why the execution makes people unhappy.

He starts reading next years predictions. The year of the shatual will be a year of big change—as most years according to the horoscopes—with great economic repercussions. Considering the Trade Federation has been making life difficult for people since Naboo that's not much of a prediction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beroya = n., bounty hunter  
> Vor'e = thanks; a shortened and less formal version of vor entye  
> Tingiilar = n., a traditional Mandalorian stew/casserole


	8. Chapter 8

Once the war is on Obi-Wan doesn't have time to think much about MandoMart—for candy or magazines. He isn't much interested in reading about supposed sightings of Jango Fett across the galaxy either now that he knows the man is dead. Perhaps he is haunting a store somewhere like Mand'alor'e past. As far as he can tell the store chain's list of Mand'alor'e is determined by which of them shows up after death—which explains why Revan and Jaster Mereel make the list when no Vizsla in the last two centuries has. He has no idea what actually makes one a Mand'alor as it's clearly more than just popular—or unpopular—support. The ghosts stuck in a service industry afterlife don't know either. After meeting two dozen of them since he first entered a MandoMart he is confident in that conclusion.

It's been years since the days when he and Anakin read the annual horoscopes together or sat down and watched holo-dramas. A normal part of being a teenager he's been told, that isn't in the least helped by Anakin's early knighting and the way they've been tossed straight into war. During one of their few simultaneous leaves on Coruscant he takes Ahsoka down to Little Keldabe with him, accompanied by Rex while Anakin is off seeing Padmé instead. Neither of them has ever been in one of the stores before, though apparently Anakin complains about Obi-Wan's pain flavored candy sometimes.

Rex specifically is nervous about Little Keldabe, no matter how much Obi-Wan tries to reassure him that no one will care he's a clone. It's not until Rex is bickering with Tarre in a mix of Mando'a and Basic that he really relaxes. While they wander around the store he makes note of the things Rex shows true interest in, picking them up discreetly as they go through the store. It results in a full bag once Ahsoka catches on, but it's been some time since he's had occasion to spend the money he keeps under the name Ben Kenobi. It's built up over the years. Along with the false identity Quinlan insisted on creating to go with it.

By the time they make it out of MandoMart and back to the temple all three of them are laughing. Cody meets them near the temple entrance, wildly curious in the force and the tilt of his head but he falls into step without question. They cross with Plo and Commander Wolffe near the archives and Obi-Wan sends out a mental poke to get his fellow councilor's attention.

"Obi-Wan! And Little 'Soka and Captain Rex," he calls cheerfully. "What are you up to today?"

"Master Obi-Wan took us to Little Keldabe," Ahsoka informs him, leaning in for a hug. "We got something for Wolffe."

"We did?"

"We did, in fact," Obi-Wan confirms with a smile.

He pulls out a box of cookies with lothwolves printed chasing each other along the outside. Rex's eyes go wide in recognition just as Cody starts laughing.

"Spice cookies. The name is a pun in Mando'a, which is why there are wolves, but I'm afraid it doesn't translate."

Wolffe takes the box, inspecting it closely though from Rex's reactions in the store Obi-Wan suspects none of the men learned to read Mando'a like they learned to speak it. Plo looks over his shoulder radiating amusement. Back at Obi-Wan's quarters—the ones he moved into so Ahsoka could share with Anakin, but never fully unpacked—he pours out the bag and watches Rex startle.

"General! You didn't have to—"

"It's no trouble, Rex, I'm sure you can find someone to share with. Now—" He picks up the magazine with the kih'galaar on the cover. "—I believe Ahsoka was born in the year of the vhe'lor. It will be a poor year for romance, I'm afraid."

They spend the evening laughing over the horoscope predictions together before they all leave for their own beds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kih'galaar = n., lit. little hawk; a small predatory bird native to northern Mandalore, distantly related to the shriekhawk  
> Vhe'lor = n., lit. field captain; a large domesticated herbivore native to Mandalore
> 
> Made up animals for Mandalore yay!


	9. Chapter 9

Obi-Wan takes Cody with him for a side trip to Keldabe when they arrive on Mandalore. Satine isn't thrilled to have them out and about—which he can understand—so he offers to leave their weapons with the rest of the men, a compromise nobody is happy about. It does gain them reluctant permission to travel across the planet, though.

When they arrive in Keldabe Obi-Wan makes straight for the MandoMart, Cody trailing behind.

"General, did we come halfway across the planet to visit a grocery store?"

"I'm coming to this store specifically to talk to someone." Obi-Wan smiles. "Hopefully he is still here."

Inside he picks up some candy, some magazines, and a few things he remembers Cody enjoying before setting his sights more seriously on finding the ghost of this particular MandoMart. Eventually Obi-Wan finds him lurking near the cookware.

"Nu cuy'gar," he greets, cheerfully mangling the usual greeting. "I have a message from Revan, if he hasn't already visited himself. It's been a while so he might have."

It's been nearly two years since he was last on Tatooine to pick up Anakin and Ahsoka after the nearly doomed mission to save Jabba's son, though he hasn't been to Keldabe since he was fifteen and clearly no one has been able to oust Canderous Ordo from the store. The ghost stands to attention at the mention of the Prodigal Knight.

"He said the force tells him you'll be seeing each other soon, so he may come to visit if he hasn't already."

"Vor'e." The ghost of Canderous Ordo turns his attention toward Cody then. "Tion'ad?"

"This is Kote, commander of the seventh sky corps."

"Jate'urci."

They don't stick around much longer, but they don't get far before Cody asks who the Mandalorian is either.

"Canderous Ordo, Mandalore the Preserver."

"What."

"Do try not to stare, commander, it's rude."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiod'ad = Who's this?  
> Jate'urci = v., good meeting; used as "nice to meet you"


	10. Chapter 10

Luke gets hired at the MandoMart in Mos Espa when he's fourteen. Neither Owen nor Beru are happy about it, but it's the safest place to work and the extra credits help even if they're loath to take money Luke earns for any reason. If nothing else at least the job protects him—both because of his many armored co-workers and also because Luke quickly becomes a favorite of beroyase who pass through Tatooine while hunting bounties. There's only so many times you can find a person sobbing and babbling in snack food aisle before something gives. In this case Luke gets dropped off at the Lars farm by helpful Mandalorians after his work shift.

Admittedly Obi-Wan hasn't done well in those fourteen years, but he does think ruefully that he should have been able to foresee this.

"You knew my father?" Luke is asking Tarre.

"No. I knew of him, he never came into Little Keldabe."

"Never came into any MandoMart," one of the other ghosts adds. "Saw him pass by a couple times, but he never came in even when he was the only one who didn't."

That's—that's interesting. It's something he hadn't known. In hindsight he realizes that he didn't ever bring Anakin to the store with him like he did others, but Anakin wasn't very interested even before outgrowing sitting together reading horoscopes.

"Skywalker was afraid of real food," adds another ghost.

Anakin ate bugs. Anakin ate just about everything, but he always ate it bland even when he complained and adding spices just made him complain more so Obi-Wan left it alone. Apparently the Mand'alor'e have opinions about that. And stories, shared by Ahsoka and Rex who made a habit of going into every MandoMart they could after the first time Obi-Wan took them and occasionally other troopers who wandered in with them. Luke learns a lot of things about his father—a fact that will have Owen yelling next time Obi-Wan sees him—but none of it is terribly dignified and at least no one uses the word Jedi.

For the first time since the war ended—for a given value of ending—Obi-Wan buys a horoscope magazine. It doesn't have the same shiny, laminated paper cover, but it has a strill embossed on the cover. He sits down in the small living area of his home in the Jundland Wastes and reads the whole thing meticulously. He strives to live as boringly as possible regardless of what the magazine recommends—and despite how unsuccessful he is in achieving that end. After a decade and a half he no longer looks so much like his old imperial bounty posters and his reputation as a madman out in the wastes is well-settled, though. Perhaps he can afford to live a bit more dangerously.


	11. Chapter 11

It's—well, Obi-Wan knew Jango Fett stayed in one of the store's back aisles, but for a long time he assumed the man didn't want to see him. It takes a slightly embarrassing length of time for Obi-Wan to find out the other Mand'alor'e exiled him there and ensure he stays. Honestly he doesn't really think about it until watching Mandalore the Stolen shove Jango's head cursing in the safe under the counter and lock it. He has no idea why Jango in particular would be stuck with the injury that killed him when none of the others are so far as he can tell, but that's just another MandoMart mystery at this point.

Once he does know, though, he decides quickly to talk to the man. Not that he knows what he hopes for from that conversation either, but it feels like the natural thing to do and he doesn't know if that's the force speaking or his own need for closure. If he wants to know why his people had to die to the child or why Fett turned his own children—claimed or not—into the flesh droids they were once accused of being to achieve it. So he heads for the back of the store to find him.

The other ghosts notice where he's going immediately. Despite attempts to dissuade him, Obi-Wan finds himself in the back watching Jango Fett vibrating through the shelves. The force is strange around these ghosts like it isn't when Qui-Gon visits, he can't tell if Fett is angry to see a Jedi or if his reaction is something else. Nonetheless he steps closer. Only neither of them gets a chance to say anything before one of the others tackles Fett bodily through the shelves. The impact jars his head loose—it clangs distantly on the ground, as if it fell on the other side of the store rather than right in front of him and he can only just hear it—and it rolls toward his feet. He crouches down and picks up Fett's head.

Even accounting for the fact that it was a lightsaber that killed him, there's a distinct lack of gore. For all that Fett's head isn't attached properly to the rest of his body it seems almost like it was always that way instead of a wound. With the helmet on Obi-Wan still can't get much of a feel for how he feels—less, now that he doesn't have body language either. Not that he gets a chance to talk to him even then before someone smacks Fett's head out of his hands with a large bird statue made of molded duraplast and painted bright pink. Obi-Wan doesn't claim to know every Mand'alor on sight, but he's fairly sure the one whacking Fett's head across the store with a bird like an Alderaanian lawn sport he watched once years ago is none other than Jaster Mereel.

Mandalore the First picks the head up and drops it in the tank of sand crabs at the butcher's counter.

Despite his protestations Obi-Wan finds himself outside the store with instant noodles, a box of shig, two bags of candy, and a horoscope magazine with a vhe'lor printed on the front.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters got increasingly short, but none of the scenes wanted to be much longer than this so hey

It takes several years after his death for things to settle. Luke joins the rebellion and it seems like no time at all before he's being joined first by Yoda, then Anakin. They aren't reconciled yet—won't be for years, probably—but they have time now. Especially since Anakin has taken to haunting like he did to astronavigation.

After many years now he's back on Coruscant and the future is bright. The temple has Jedi again and while the galaxy is not yet at peace it is not out of reach, closer than it ever was during the war. And the few surviving clone troopers stop by to visit sometimes. With the ghosts cycling through stores sometimes he follows to visit with the friends he made while he was alive. It's strange that he would do so much living only after death, but finally the Sith are gone.

Obi-Wan hums and leans against Jango, currently inhabiting the MandoMart on Coruscant where he has yet to be ousted, settling in to people watch in New Little Keldabe. After the imperial purges the space where Little Keldabe is long built over, but many parts of Coruscant were alternately burned or ignored by Sidious' acolytes on his whims. Instead of down in Coruscant's midlevels, New Little Keldabe is on the surface in the space around the temple that Sidious demolished to further set it apart as the imperial palace. Among other things that means Obi-Wan can see the enormous courtyard from the store when he wants to spend time with Jango and watch Luke at the same time.

A while later Jango gets his attention with a nudge. He's holding a shiny magazine with a mythosaur on the cover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A selection of absolute nonsense not mentioned in this story:
> 
> Jango is exiled to the worst aisle in the store as punishment for being partially responsible for multiple genocides: the Republic Foods aisle. Shortly thereafter it is renamed """Empire Foods""" (sarcastic quote marks included). It stocks primarily S-Mart brand goods. (Shopping S-Mart is the smart thing to do!)
> 
> S-Mart is operated by Sith acolytes. One of their flagship products is a breakfast cereal made of sawdust, sugar, and red 40 dye. It is marketed as a high fiber choice for a healthy breakfast.
> 
> The MandoMart on Tatooine has cardboard cutouts of Anakin when he was nine years old and puts them out on Boonta Eve.
> 
> Rex leads a initiative among the free clones to start a line of MandoMart stores and get franchised during the rebellion era. He was trying to get Tarre Vizsla to show up, but really just got a revolving door of whoever most recently lost a fisticuffs match among the ghosts on Tatooine.
> 
> MandoMart decides who is a true Mand'alor posthumously based on which ghosts show up to haunt their stores. The owners do not know why they are being haunted or what determines whether any particular contender counts as a real Mand'alor. Revan and Tarre are both Mand'alor type ghosts but can travel between MandoMarts at will unlike the other ghosts. Obi-Wan is a force ghost like at the end of ROTJ.
> 
> Luke swears exclusively in Mando'a. Boba has Opinions about this.


End file.
